Frostbite
by Lailuh
Summary: The team go on a mission that takes them to the snowy mountains. No one pieced it together that it was probably a bad idea to take Peter with them when he was especially susceptible to cold weather.


It's a well-known fact that spiders don't do well in the cold. They're cold blooded creatures; they need warmth to survive. While Peter wasn't an actual spider, the bite gave him a lot more traits than he originally though. He didn't turn cold blooded, that would be silly, but he did seem to be more susceptible to cold weather.

The team had been on a mission in Colorado, a major weapon bust that had been going on for months before they were able to get any real lead on where to go next. The whole thing was a success; no deaths on either side, no major injuries, no one had escaped. When it was done and over with, everyone returned to the compound which was nestled high in the Colorado mountains. The ride there was a bit bumpy, the snowy weather not treating the Quinjet kindly, but everyone made it there in one piece.

The chilly air bit at everyone as the back hatch opened in the hanger. The agents there had informed them, when Clint had more or less complained when they had first got there, that even though they were a top-secret military base full of highly trained people, they had limited resources up in the mountains; more _away_ from society than other bases and they couldn't really afford to waste anything. Hence why the hanger wasn't heated; no need to waste gas and electricity in a place where people rarely are.

Peter's arms wrapped around himself. He could feel Karen adjusting the heater in his suit but no matter how he thought of it, it was still just a really fancy piece of spandex and it didn't retain heat very well.

"Getting cold, Squirt?" Clint teased as they exited the ship.

Peter sent the man a small glare. Unlike him, the others all had on some sort of heavy jacket and pants. "This is colder than I'm used to. It's barely even snowed in New York this year."

"Maybe you should've worn more than a onesie." Natasha smirked.

"I'm not used to wearing anything else and I _thought_ my suit would be enough for it, but Karen has the heater cranked up all the way and it's not doing that much."

"We'll add that on to the list of things to adjust on your suit, maybe even make you a little sweater with a spider on it you can wear over it. Probably get some matching socks and gloves somewhere too." Tony said earning slight laughs from everyone.

"Har har, real funny." Peter rolled his eyes. "How long are we supposed to stay here?"

"Another day or two to get everything settled." Steve answered. "There's not any real plans after our debriefing so we'll be free to wander the base and use our time however we like."

Sounded good to him. Debriefing didn't really take more than an hour at most. It was a few hours past noon so There's was still plenty of time to do other things. Peter just wanted a warm shower and some food before settling.

When the debriefing was over, everyone has returned to their rooms. Peter wasted no time in laying out warm clothes, stripping off his suit, and getting into the shower. The warm water was like a gift from god. When he was finished he quickly dried off and changed into a thick pair of gray sweats and sweatshirt, almost tempted into wearing his suit underneath it all just so he could have Karen activate his heater. He didn't really know what to do after that. They had free range of the base and could do whatever they wanted, within reason of course, but he didn't have any idea what he actually _could_ do. He didn't really want to leave his room either; the base was rather large and he didn't want to risk getting lost. The people there were nice enough and would most likely help him get to where he needed but he'd rather save himself the embarrassment of the whole thing.

He opted to stay in his room for a while, nice and warm under his blankets. And- playing into Clint's seemingly never-ending friendly taunts of _You're such a nerd_ \- he figured he could do his homework because of course he would bring that on a mission. Someone would find him if they needed him for anything.

Steve had dropped by once just to see how he was doing or if he needed anything. Peter had said a dozen more blankets because even though it was ridiculously warm inside the actual base compared to outside, he was still quite cold. Steve had laughed at the request but said he would do what he could in order to make him feel more comfortable. All in all, he had gotten his work done in a few hours and was reminded by the rumble in his stomach that it was most likely dinner.

He exited his room and did his best to navigate through the compound to find the cafeteria. It was a few minutes before eight and hoped that he wasn't too late to get something; then again he didn't know the schedule there, so he could've very well been too early. When he did eventually find it, he was glad to see there were a few dozen people eating and loitering about. He got his food, thanking the cooks for giving him a bit extra when he asked, and sat down at an unoccupied table. He wondered if the others had eaten yet but didn't stop himself from digging in. It was mainly spaghetti, a few meatballs thrown in, bread on the side, some grapes, and even a small container of ice cream. It went without saying that he was extremely pleased with the whole thing.

Peter had been absentmindedly been going through his phone while eating. Top secret military base with basically zero reception; not the best thing he could say about the place but it was to be expected. It wouldn't ideally be good if there was a sudden wifi signal called _Area 51_ practically in the middle of nowhere. While he was waiting for a page to load, he got a tingle up his neck. It wasn't a strong one, more like the ones he would feel when Flash would throw something at him in class. He looked around the cafeteria for any form of danger but saw nothing out of the ordinary. A sudden bang made him whip back around towards the table and he found someone had sat down in front of him.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle ya." His voice was gruff but he seemed a bit on the young side, maybe late twenties to early thirties.

"Oh, no you're fine. I just kinda spaced out for a second." Peter replied.

"What's a kid like you doing in a place like this anyways. Was there a bring your kid to work day memo I missed?"

"I don't think so. I'm kinda here with the Avengers."

"Avengers huh?"

The words out of his mouth were like a trigger. Peter's senses shot up to the point where he wanted to run. He couldn't ignore the feeling in his head practically screaming _DANGER_ at him.

"My little girl's gonna be be upset that I got to be here with them and she didn't." He laughed. "Here, lemme show ya a picture of her."

The man reached behind his back and Peter had to stop from denying his request and leaving. The guy didn't sit right with him at all. First off, there were literally dozens of other open tables he could have gone to, and second was that he sat down with no concern, no legitimate questions for _who are you_ or _what are you doing here._ He followed no sort of protocol that Peter assumed was always in play when anyone finds a strange person in a place where they shouldn't be. He would've just blown it off because everyone in the base should've known they were there but that guy seemed genuinely surprised.

Peter didn't see what he took from behind his back as it went directly under the table. He would've assumed it was his wallet to get a picture out of but Peter could hear something metallic click. It was a split-second decision that could have ended very badly if he was wrong about it, but he had long since learned to trust his instinct and spidey sense. He all but vaulted over the table and tackled the man sitting across from him. He was certain a bang echoed through the room.

The cafeteria went quiet after that. The chairs and tables had been knocked over, food went flying, and people had started to stare and assess the situation. Peter was sitting on the man's torso holding him down from his biceps. His breathing was deep and his eyes wide as he looked back between the man's face and the gun in his hand.

"All right break it up!" Someone yelled as they approached the two of them on the ground. "I don't care what was said, if you wanna spar then take it to the training room."

"What the hell are you doing kid?" Another asked.

"He tried to shoot me." Peter breathed out. He almost didn't believe the words that came out of his mouth.

The small group that was surrounding them all looked towards the man Peter was sitting on, thinking he was blowing it out of proportion until they saw the gun in his hand.

"You wanna explain yourself Anders?"

The man, Anders apparently, merely sent Peter a heavy glare. "Annoying brat."

Another bang was heard, and pain erupted in Peter's thigh. He rolled off Anders onto the floor, feeling blood soaking into his sweats. The people around him were yelling. He heard several more shots and a very loud boom echo through the building. An alarm had sounded shortly after.

"You're gonna be okay kid." A voice beside him stated. "Bullet didn't go through but you're gonna be okay."

Peter laughed. "You know, being shot _sucks_. Dr. Banner's not gonna let me do anything now. Last time he didn't let me use my arm for a week."

" _Last time_? Jesus kid, how many times have you been shot?"

"Uh, I think this one makes four?" He grunted as someone pressed something against the wound to stanch the bleeding. "Mr. Stark isn't gonna like this one bit."

" _I_ don't like this one bit." The man said. "Come on, we gotta get you to the infirmary and figure out what the hell just happened. Can you stand?"

Peter took the hand offered to him and hauled himself up. Standing was okay, but he couldn't put pressure on his injured leg. His arm was wrapped around the neck of the man helping him and the two of them slowly made their way from the cafeteria to the infirmity. Peter didn't need to see to know his attacker was most likely dead; opening fire in a base full of armed personnel usually didn't have a happy ending.

They passed many people in the halls as they made their way. There was still an alarm going off and lights flashing and it occurred to Peter that they didn't actually know what happened. His first thought was maybe someone had pulled an alarm to announce there was a traitor in the building but, even though that was an important thing, it probably wouldn't have been warranted for the whole compound seeing as the fight was over in a matter of seconds.

There was only one other person in the infirmary when they arrived.

"Help me with him Maggy."

The lady, Maggy, had stopped what she was working on and cleared off a bed. "What's happening Richard?"

"You got me. Anders went AWOL; shot the kid and blew something up I imagine." Richard set Peter on the bed. "He's lying in the cafeteria."

"He's been acting a bit weird since he found out the Avengers were making a stop here." Maggy began to cut away the pant leg at the bullet hole, Peter wincing at the sudden action. "Sorry."

"No, you're all right." Peter managed to smile. "I don't think I'll ever get used to this feeling."

"You shouldn't _have_ to get used to the feeling of being shot kid." Richard said. "I mean your what, seventeen? Eighteen maybe?"

"Heh, yeah. Let's go with the maybe."

"You're Peter right?" Maggy asked and Peter nodded slightly. "I've read your file and I know you have advanced healing. I've never worked on someone with those types of abilities and I don't think there's anyone here who has. Dr. Banner is on base with us right? Would you be more comfortable with him doing this?"

"I trust in your skills as a doctor to be able to take care of me." Peter said earning a smile from the woman. "But actually letting one of them know I'm here might be a good idea…"

"I'll find your teammates." Richard said. "Find out what's actually going on too and give us some peace of mind or something."

"If the base was just attacked I doubt anyone will actually have peace of mind Rich." Maggy smirked. Richard rolled his eyes and headed out the door. "You might have to walk me through this Peter. I know you have a basic genetic code like Captain America and that means you're resilient to a lot of drugs."

"I know we've run tests for drugs we could be sedated with but nothing has really given good results. Most of the times we don't get anything but our injuries aren't bad enough to actually require any sort of surgery." Peter replied.

"What about the other times you've been shot?"

He shrugged. "They were in less desirable spots and I passed out from shock or blood loss. I don't _think_ I need to be unconscious for this."

"You have a bullet in your thigh. Getting it out is going to be a lot more painful than when it went in."

"Like I said, I trust your skills as a doctor."

She smiled slightly and shook her head. "If I get in trouble for this, you're taking the heat. Try not to move if you can help it."

Peter nodded and gripped the side of the bed. It couldn't be that much worse than when Bruce had needed to set his once broken ankle while he was awake before it healed wrong. That was probably one of the most painful things in his life. He watched as Maggy cleaned the outer part of the wound and got her tools. Contrary to what he thought, the pain he felt from her digging around in his thigh was _so_ much worse than his ankle being set.

It wasn't like the other times he was thinking of; Bruce having to extract glass or shrapnel from any point in his body, or the several times he's needed small amounts of stitches. There was someone using a pair of tweezers _inside_ his thigh to try to find a bullet that was lodged in there somewhere. What was worse was that he could feel the metal squirming in his leg and it was cold.

"Almost…"

Peter's eyes were clenched shut and his teeth grinding. He could feel every little movement she was doing and didn't know how he had managed to actually stay still when all he wanted to do was get away from the pain. Getting shot _really_ sucked.

"Got it." Maggy's words were the best he'd heard all day. The tweezers and bullet leaving his body was a wonderful feeling and the small _clunk_ as it landed on a tray was marvelous. "I don't think it hit bone or anything vital, just muscle and fat but I would like to take an X-ray when we get you cleaned up just to make sure."

"No argument here." Peter released the part of the bed he'd been gripping, the metal of the frame now bent slightly from his grasp.

Once his wound was cleaned and dressed, Maggy helped him hobble towards the X-ray machine and in the time the X-ray and other things were being taken, Clint had arrived to check on him.

"Can't take you anywhere without getting hurt can we?" He asked with a smirk as he eyed the boy.

"It's not like I want to get hurt whenever we go out." Peter defended. "This wasn't even part of the mission this time."

"Yeah but if keeps going on we might just leave you at home next time." He looked at Maggy. "How's he doing?"

"Good, all things considered. The bullet didn't hit any arteries or the bone and it looks like his healing is already working so I'd give it a week or two before he completely healed." She frowned slightly. "I'm a little worried about his temperature, it's a bit low. It shouldn't be that bad but his body is most likely concentrating on healing the bullet wound so he's probably likely to catch a cold."

"Hey, who doesn't around here?" Clint joked. "We won't let him do anything to make himself worse."

"I'll hold you to that." Maggy said. She turned to Peter. "I grant you a mediocre bill of health. Get lots of rest, stay warn, and drink lots of liquids. You'll be better before you know it."

Peter smiled at her. "Thank you."

 **AVENGERS**

"Do you know what happened Mr. Barton?" Peter asked as he slipped on a hoodie in his room. He definitely felt better once he had thicker clothes and a full pair of pants on.

"I know the jist of it." Clint replied as he sat on Peter's bed. "The guy who told me you were injured said he saw someone sit across from you in the cafeteria and after a minute you two were on the ground and he shot you. They think he was an undercover agent from the weapons bust we did and he managed to take out the main heating system somehow."

That's what Peter figured too and it explained why the air felt so much colder in his room. So much for an easy mission.

"There's gonna be an announcement later so we can figure out what's going on but you can stay here and get some rest until then. I'll let the others know you're fine, and I'll see if we can get you an extra blanket or something."

"Thanks a lot Mr. Barton."

"Ah don't mention it kid. All our comms should still work if you need anything." With that he left the room.

Peter let loose a sigh as he sank back into his pillows. That day certainly didn't go as he expected. Now he was stuck with no heat and a bum leg, and he finished his homework so there wasn't really much to keep him busy. He wanted to know what had really happened but all of the excitement and blood loss had left him drowsy. He figured he could take Clint's advice and actually sleep for a while.

 **AVENGERS**

It was late when a nonexistent force pulled Peter from his slumber, just past 1:30am. His light was turned off and there was another blanket on him and a second on the table next to him. Someone had come into check on him during the night. He didn't know if the announcement had already been made but figured someone would have woken him up if it had been. He was almost certain that the actual reason he woke up was because he was hungry. Thinking back he still had a pretty full plate before everything happened.

He sat up in bed, turned on a lamp and stretched, careful not to move his leg to much. It felt better than it did those first few hours ago. He knew he really shouldn't walk around, not just because of his leg but also because everyone was most likely still cleaning and getting information of what happened and he, being injured, would most likely cause unnecessary worry.

His stomach had different plans though. It just kept on growling. He was tempted to call someone but again he didn't know what the current situation was. He wished FRIDAY was there. He finally caved and got out of bed; least he could do was find an apple or something.

The hall was relatively quiet as he exited his room. He stayed close to the wall, leaning against it to keep the weight off his leg best he could. He hoped to meet someone on the way to get information but everything was quiet.

And cold.

Peter had stopped along the wall to take a moment to compose himself and realized he was shivering slightly. He didn't think the heat not being on would affect the compound as much as it did. Did the place not have insulation or something? He huffed out a sigh, almost wishing he stayed in his room under the heavy blankets but knew he would t be able to get back to sleep until he ate something.

"Peter?" He turned at his name being called to see Steve coming up behind him. "What're you doing up?"

"I heard a growling in my room that turned out to be my stomach." He laughed slightly. "I didn't have that much to eat before everything went down."

"You could've called one of us to bring you something. You shouldn't be standing on that leg."

"I didn't know if you all were busy or something. I mean the base did get blown up so I figured you all have something more important to do than to cater to me." Peter smirked at Steve's pressed face. He knew he was right. "Do we have the facts for everything?"

Steve took Peter's arm and wrapped it around his shoulder and took most of his weight. "The man who attacked you had been undercover for years and had been one of the key operatives of the weapon smuggling. He was the only one left free when we took them down. Apparently, he was also an engineer and maintained most of the equipment in the base. We found a remote transmitter on him and figured that's how he detonated whatever bomb he set up to take out the main heating system. We haven't found anything else he might have tampered with yet. Tony's currently working with the technicians and engineers to try to salvage it and get the system working again."

"I wish they'd hurry up. It's freezing in here." Steve sent the boy a look. While it wasn't exactly warm in the building, it wasn't freezing. "What are the others doing?"

"Nat and Clint are going through all the information we have and seeing if there are any other possible moles. Last I saw Bruce he was headed towards the infirmary to speak to the doctor that treated you. I'm not sure where he's at now."

The two of them walked in a comfortable silence to the cafeteria, Steve choosing not to comment on how much the boy was shivering. He guided Peter to a table while he offered to get him food. The mess that had been made earlier had been cleaned, the floor still smelt like bleach. Steve returned to the table with two trays and the two of them ate, Steve telling the younger boy more details about what had happened while he was out and how the weather had picked up and there was most likely a storm on the way.

When the two were finished, Steve offered to take Peter back to his room to get some rest but Peter said he'd rather get debriefed then than in the morning. Everything was still fresh in his mind and it was probably the best time to do it. Though Steve thought rest was more important at the moment, Peter was a stubborn person and he knew that if dropped him off at his room then he'd limp to wherever he needed to be to relay the information he had. So with that, he took Peter to the conference room where Natasha and Clint, and a few others, were to relay what happened.

"Thought you'd be hold up in your room for a while." Clint said as Peter and Steve took their seats.

"His stomach had a different idea." Steve sent him a side glance and smirked a bit.

"Tell me you didn't actually walk to the cafeteria in your condition. At least tell me you were able to get some ice cream."

"They have ice cream here?" Peter questioned.

"Boys please. We're trying to have a serious meeting." Natasha said as she glanced between them. "How the leg?"

Peter shrugged. "It's not any worse than it was; doesn't hurt as much to move it now."

"Would you mind telling us your account of what happened earlier? We got stories from agents that were there when the incident happened but having it from the source would be terrific." One of the other men asked.

Peter began going over what happened in the cafeteria. He explained how he got a first small sense before Anders sat across from him, indicating there was a possible other threat. He told them of how he didn't feel a sense of danger coming from him until he mentioned he was with the Avengers.

"Can you explain what you mean by you got a sense?"

"It's- kinda hard to explain. It's like a sixth sense that tells me when something bad or dangerous is near or gonna happen."

"Do you think we could have a demonstration of some sort? Do you need to feel threatened for it to happen?"

He hesitated. "I'm not sure about a demonstration… I don't really feel anything-" he stopped to catch a pen flying at his face. "-except cold right now." He stole a glance at Clint who was looking away innocently.

The men at the table were impressed with his reflexes and how he didn't even need to look to catch the pen.

"Thank you Mr. Parker. You've been very helpful with everything."

"Now do you think you'll be able to say in bed and rest?" Steve asked.

"I'm not making any promises." Peter smirked slightly as he attempted to get up from his seat. A slight wave of dizziness went over him and caused him to stumble a bit. "Okay _maybe_ I can stay asleep for the night."

 **AVENGERS**

Steve helped Peter back to his room, again taking most of if not all of the boy's weight, only that time Peter didn't seem to fight him on the matter and hung rather loosely at his side.

"You need anything?" Steve asked as he helped him into bed.

"Are you really not freezing right now?" Peter's teeth chattered as he asked the question, wrapping himself in a blanket.

Steve frowned at the statement. He placed the back of his hand on Peter's forehead. "Seems like you managed to get a fever after all."

"But I thought those would make you hot. I feel like I'm sitting in a freezer right now." Honestly he didn't feel like he had a fever, more like a complete opposite. "This sucks."

"Tell me about it. I don't remember the last time I got sick." He got a bottle of water and placed it on the bedside table. "I'll try to get more blankets for you but just try to get some sleep; don't hesitate to call one of us on the comm if you need something. We'll all be around and I'm just next door."

"Thanks Cap. You're the best."

Peter fell back as Steve exited the room. Him getting sick on top of everything was probably the worst thing that could happen at the moment. There wasn't really anything for him to do about it either; just sleep and hope the heater would be fixed soon.

 **AVENGERS**

Bruce had seemed- concerned. He had been talking with the self-appointed meteorologist at the time the explosion happened and it turned out there was a massive storm heading in their direction. It wouldn't have been that big of a deal but they were basically going to be trapped in a base with no working heating system.

"Come on, have a little faith that we can get this back online." Tony said as Bruce voiced his concerns to the group. He was currently watching from the sidelines as Tony and other engineers attempted to fix the heat.

"Forgive me for not believing you can make an industrial heating system from a few scraps and a microwave." Bruce huffed. "At your place with all your equipment yeah, but not here."

"What are you actually worried about? We'll run out of food, maybe lose communication for a little while?"

"It's gonna get cold Tony, _real_ cold. This is a big metal box with no heating system and a blizzard about to happen outside. I think I have a right to be worried."

"We'll all just make sure to bundle up real nice, maybe even sleep in a pile." Tony joked but the annoyed look on Bruce's face didn't change. "How the kid?"

"Real nice subtle subject change." Bruce rolled his eyes. "He looked fine when I checked on him earlier, albeit I could _see_ him shivering under his covers. He's the one I'm most worried about. I talked to the doctor that treated him and she said his temperature was low."

"So he's got a little cold, who doesn't around here? He also has super healing remember?"

" _Which_ is focused on healing the hole in his thigh. Peter's susceptible to a lot of things right now and him getting a cold could only be a start to it."

"Probably add a fever on top of everything." Steve added as he walked up to Bruce, entering the room a few moments prior. "I just got him back to his room and he felt warm but was saying he felt freezing."

Bruce gestured to Steve. "See?"

Tony huffed. "Yeah I get it. We're all worried about the kid okay? I'm doing my best here to fix this but like you said earlier, it's a little difficult. So, I'd appreciate it if you didn't point it out that the safety of one of our team members is on the line here."

Bruce was silent at that. He didn't think he would actually be able to break through Tony's façade. The other engineers that were there had also quieted down.

"How long is the storm suppose to last?" Steve asked, breaking the silence.

"Two days at least, four- five at most." Bruce rubbed his eyes.

"Why don't you go get some sleep? I know you've been up since we got back and it's late."

"Promise we won't have any fun without you." Tony added.

Bruce smirked and headed out. In truth he was exhausted. He had always got stressed when they went in missions purely because of his- situation. He'd gotten a good handle on the whole thing but the other guy still made some unannounced appearances now and again. The weapons bust wasn't a big thing though so he was able to sit and monitor everything in the jet. Upon arriving at the base and finding out about the storm was annoying but nothing he couldn't handle. When Peter was attacked and the heating got blown up though, the stressed started piling down. That didn't mean the big guy was going to make an appearance, of course not; far from it. It just meant Bruce found out Peter was playing a large factor in his stress at the moment.

When he met with Maggy to discuss what happened, he wasn't pleased. As much as he hated to say it, Peter could handle a bullet wound, but when she informed him that his temperature was below the average, even for him, he started to worry about Peter getting sick and not having the correct resources to be able to treat him properly.

When he and Peter had first met, it was a bit awkward and embarrassing for Bruce because he'd never had fans before, only the big guy. So when Peter started going on about his papers and journals it surprised him a bit. The two of them began hanging around each other more, mainly in the tower and the lab doing some sort of experiment. One day he had asked Peter how he got his powers and when he heard Oscorp, he got worried, but Peter had explained everything- all his powers, senses, ability to stick to anything, even the spider that bit him.

From that point, Bruce spent a lot of his free time researching different types of spiders and any special characteristics or other abilities that Peter might have but didn't know about. He found some troubling things in his search. While Peter's senses helped them a lot in battle, they often caused him to go into sensory overload or get migraines and Peter has collapsed in the lab more than once when the chemicals they were using had too strong of a smell for him. Then there was the radiation which Bruce understood very well. While it wasn't actively harming him in any way, it was disconcerting. The bite should have killed him but somehow the spider DNA bonded with his own and no one had an answer as to why. There was one thing in particular that he was tensing on since the mission announcement and it was the one thing that most if not all spiders were vulnerable to- it was the cold.

Most articles he read talked about common spiders seen everyday and how to deal with them with household products and a lot of them were saying to wait until it got cold about to really try and keep them from the house because they don't do well in cold weather. Peter had been saying how cold he was ever since they got to the base and had led Bruce to believe he was extra susceptible to the cold there; learning from Maggy that his temperature was considerably lower than it should've been only helped his assumptions and being able to see him shivering from under his covers was unnerving. Learning from Steve about a fever only made things worse. He took a detour from his route to check on Peter.

When Bruce got to Peter's room, he found the door unlocked and the boy asleep under what looked like three blankets. While he didn't appear to be shivering at the time, from the bit of light coming through the door, Bruce could see his face was flushed. It appeared as he did indeed have a fever as Steve said. In that instance he would've said they needed to keep him cool, but that wasn't an option at the moment. If the thing was bad enough they would need to break it with even more blankets which he was sure Peter wouldn't be apposed to, but since it was the dead of night and he didn't want to wake him to check or have the energy to do anything, he quietly exited the room and headed to his own hoping to get as much sleep as Peter was.

 **AVENGERS**

The next morning was- hectic. Tony had been unsuccessful with getting the heating back on despite staying up until the early morning hours. No one blamed his efforts though and many of the other engineers that were with him and ones switching for the night told him to take a break and get on it in the morning. He finally caved to their suggestions just before five.

He awoke just past 9:30 and headed to the cafeteria to get something. Upon entering he got a sensation of something- dark, almost hostile. He grabbed an apple and headed towards a table where Steve and Clint where sitting.

"Did everyone roll off the wrong side of the bed this morning? They all seem like there not in the best of moods. What gives?" He asked as he took a bite of his food.

"I think they have a right considering their main source of heat is gone when a major blizzard is just about on us _and_ one of their head engineers turned out to be an undercover spy." Clint answered.

"Well when you put it that way…"

"No luck with the heating?" Steve asked.

Tony shook his head. "I do t have any of the proper gear to work with. The bomb or whatever really did a number on the system and took out a lot more equipment than what I originally thought. I could throw together a few of those old space heaters if needs be. Those would be easy enough to Frankenstein."

"You might have to; they talked about diverting a lot of the base power to certain sections of the building to try and see if they could somehow get any sort of heat to last through the thick of the storm." Clint said. "Lots of people aren't to live happy about having to double and triple up in rooms to see if it'll work or not."

"It's not a bad plan. I'll see if I can get some help with making them; more people to a room the better, body heat will help a bit with everything. Either of you check on the kid?"

"I haven't seen him since last night." Steve said. "Everyone knows he needs his sleep right now but it would probably be best if he ate something."

"Ah I'll bring him something then; hoping he could offer some insight to our heating problem."

With that Tony took a tray of food and headed to Peter's room. After the few minutes walk he got to Peter's room, knocked, and was met with silence. He didn't blame him for wanting to sleep, Kid was shot for god's sake and had gotten sick on top of it all. Tony wouldn't blame him if he wanted to sleep the whole time they were stuck there. He pushed the door open and was met with a dark room.

"Rise and shiny kid. Gotta get some food in you so you can function a bit." Tony started flickering the lights. He was met with a groan.

"Mr. Stark please." Peter's voice sounded a bit raspy. "You're gonna give me a bigger headache."

A slight smirk appeared on Tony's face as he kept the light on, but it instantly disappeared as he saw the state Peter was in; he was bunched up in ball in the middle of the bed, his pillows askew on the floor, face pale but cheeks tinted slight pink.

"You okay? You look like shit."

"Feel like it." A cough rattled through his chest. "I'm so cold."

Tony set the food on a nearby table and went to feel Peter's forehead. He definitely didn't feel cold, completely the opposite in fact. There was a sheen of sweat covering his face. "You're burning up."

"I really don't think that's right."

"FRIDAY can you tell me his temperature?"

" _Mr. Parker's body temperature is currently 103.6 and he's showing symptoms of pneumonia."_ FRIDAY's voice rang through his earpiece.

"Shit…" So much for help with the heating. "We need to cool you down."

"No- I'm already cold…" Peter buried his face in the blankets.

"That's not you, it's the fever talking. Your temperature's already dangerously high. Another point four degrees is enough to kill a regular human. I know your powers help you fight off sicknesses but I'm sure they're trying to focus on repairing the bullet hole in your leg."

"I have a bullet hole in my leg?"

"Yeah, you were shot yesterday incase you forgot." Tony shook his head and called into his comm. "Hey Brucie, I think you should swing by the kid's room when you get a chance. He's not doing to good."

The line was silent for a minute before he got a response. _"Give me a few minutes and I'll come see how he's doing."_

"Mr. Stark? We're- not at the tower, right?" Peter asked as his teeth were chattering.

"No. We're in Colorado for a mission." Tony's words were calm but he was worried that Peter might start forgetting what had happened. "We got here yesterday for the debriefing and you ended up getting shot by an undercover agent who ended up taking out the main heating system, remember?"

"Sorry… it's all a little fuzzy. I remember parts of what happened but I think being sick is throwing off my- well, everything."

"Pneumonia will do that to a person. Think you can stomach something?" Peter barely shook his head. "At least drink the water so we know you're attempting to stay hydrated."

Tony took the water bottle from the nightstand and opened it, holding it out for Peter to take but the boy's eyes were already shut again. "Come on kid."

"Sorry Mr. Stark but I really don't have any energy to move." Peter said as he cracked and eye open.

"I know kid but you need to drink." Tony set the water down and pealed away the blankets. He had been worried Peter might have opened his wound but was happily relieved to see his pants and sheets were their regular color and not stained red. He hauled Peter up and held him at his side, noting the extreme shivering he felt. He held the bottle to his lips. "Drink least half for now. That's better than nothing."

It was surprisingly difficult to get Peter to drink. Besides the awkward angle, Peter was practically asleep in Tony's arms and the water kept dripping from his mouth. Tony just kept gently shaking him and calling his name, getting him to wake and take another sip. He barely managed to get a third of the bottle when Bruce arrived.

"He's really not doing good is he?"

Tony shook his head. "FRIDAY said he has a 103 fever and showing symptoms of pneumonia. I can barely keep him awake to drink."

Bruce placed his hand on Peter's forehead. "I knew he would most likely get sick on this mission but I didn't expect it to be this bad."

"You _expected_ this?"

"Think about it; spiders don't do well in cold weather because they're cold blooded. It makes sense that Peter wouldn't do well in cold weather either."

"Why didn't you say something before we left?" Tony frowned slightly.

"I didn't _know_ any of this would happen Tony." Bruce bit back. "The worst that would've happened if everything had gone as it was _supposed_ to was he would get a cold, a _slight_ fever at worst."

"I know I'm just-" He sighed. "I'm not blaming you. I'm just worried."

"We're all worried but that's not gonna help in this situation. We just need to keep him hydrated and warm and hope his fever either goes down or breaks. I can see if I can get the doctors here to help create something that will actually help him but until then, we just need to wait."

Tony hated waiting. It was boring, nerve wracking, completely pointless to him. They knew what needed to be done and the faster it happened, the faster Peter was back to his normal self. But… healing took time. Tony knew that was well as anyone and as much as he wanted everything to be done and over with, he knew they had to wait.

He took his watch off and hooked it around Peter's wrist. "FRIDAY'll notify us if there's any major changes."

"I'm certain the others will also be around to check on him throughout the day." Bruce added. "Though I'm not content with leaving him alone, I think he'll be alright for a few hours."

"He can go back to sleep if he's alone." Peter mumbled from Tony's side. "So loud…"

Both men were slightly surprised Peter was awake for their conversation.

"Sorry kid. We'll get out of your hair for a while." Tony said as he helped Peter lay back in bed. "No parties while we're gone. Finish your homework or else no ice cream after dinner."

"It's already done…" Peter's voice trailed off as he buried his head in the pillow.

Bruce snorted. "I still can't believe he brings his homework on missions."

 **AVENGERS**

A few hours had gone by; Bruce had been busy in the infirmary trying to put something together that would work with Peter's metabolism and hopefully get his fever down. Tony had gone back to his makeshift lab and had been trying to piece together old equipment into small heaters but the lack of proper tools and tech was making it more difficult than he would've liked. The team had been informed about how sick Peter was and had been asked to check up on him in their spare time.

Steve had been the first to drop by to see him because his room was next door. Peter was still sound asleep. FRIDAY had informed him that nothing had happened in the hours he was alone and his fever had been steadily bouncing between 103.2 and 103.7 but nothing more than that. Steve had woken him up and gotten him to eat half of a banana and drink a bit more water before letting him go back to sleep.

Clint had checked a few hours after that. Peter had been awake and sitting up slightly but he wasn't exactly coherent. Clint had been giving him updates on what had been happening and what everyone had been working and patiently waited for Peter to ask any questions he had. He also repeated himself as many times as needed until Peter had a decent grasp on the information he was being told.

After that was Natasha but her visit wasn't a leisurely one.

" _Mr. Parker appears to be in distress and is in need of assistance. Ms. Romanoff you are the closest one to his room."_

Natasha had more or less run to Peter's room. She didn't bother knocking when she entered. She saw Peter slumped against the wall opposite of his bed, his head down and arms hanging loosely at his sides.

"Peter." She was at his side in a second.

Peter opened his eyes slightly. "Ms. Romanoff?"

"Yeah, it's me kid. What's wrong? A little birdie told me you shouldn't have enough energy to be out of bed."

"He was here." He breathed out. "He, uh, Toomes was-"

Natasha frowned. "Who is Toomes?"

"He was the first- major villain I fought and he, um… no. He- he wasn't here…" He held his head and groaned. "Sorry. I was probably hallucinating…"

"FRIDAY give me something to go on." Natasha helped Peter stand, his legs barely holding his weight as she gilded him back to the bed.

" _Mr. Parker had been in a restless sleep for thirty-six minutes before abruptly waking and attempting to flee a nonexistent danger. His temperature has risen to 104.3 and if it gets any higher then he will be in danger of possible seizing."_

Natasha's face was set in a hard frown. She never actually heard how sick Peter actually was but seeing him slumped over on the bed, face horribly flushed, breathing ragged, shivering on top of it all, it was extremely worrisome. Not to mention the hole in his leg but that seemed to be the least of his problems at the moment.

"Okay, let's get you up." She helped him up and guided him to the bathroom. "If you're hallucination of old foes then your temperature is definitely too high." She had him kneel just outside of the shower and carefully maneuvered him so his head was just over the lip. "This is gonna be cold."

A sudden spray of water hit the back of Peter's head. He was expecting himself to pull back with how cold he had been feeling since they got there but the water almost felt warm as it soaked through his hair.

"It's not really cold." Peter mumbled.

"When you have a 104 fever I doubt anything's gonna feel cold." She wet a washcloth and set it on the back of his neck before speaking to FRIDAY. "Did you tell anyone else about what happened?"

" _I have alerted Dr. Banner about Peter's current state and how you are caring for him. He should be about fifteen minutes with medication. I would have alerted Mr. Stark as well but he is nearly through with completing a working heating system and thought it would be better to let him finish it seeing as you are here now."_

That was good. There wasn't anything for Tony to do there anyways and though he would probably be pretty ticked he wasn't notified of Peter's being, he needed to focus on getting a heating system working for the base. Natasha didn't like _the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few_ thought she had, especially since the _few_ was one of her teammates, but they couldn't have Tony forgo his work so he could coddle Peter. It was the first day of the blizzard with zero heat. It wasn't horrible but there was a definite coldness to the air that would definitely make people sick without proper heat. Hence, to keep the base at a functioning capacity until the storm passed and they could radio for help, heating was more important.

The two of them stayed in the bathroom for a few minutes, Peter inching his way farther and farther into the water and Natasha holding him back so he didn't fall face first into the tiles. When she turned the water off, she dried Peter's hair just enough so water wasn't still falling from it and guided him back to his bed. She made him drink the rest of the first bottle of water he had before opening a second one and making him drink most of that too.

Bruce came in not long after that and was met with Peter laying across his bed with a washcloth over his face and Natasha propped up in one of the chairs, looking through one of his school books.

"This wasn't what I expected."

"Care to explain what you _were_ expecting?" Natasha asked.

"Something much worse." He sat on the edge of the bed. "How you doing Pete?"

"Can't really complain." Peter said, his reply muffled a bit. "I feel really hot instead of cold if that's any better."

"It's- not necessarily _better_ , but treating a fever is much easier in our situation at the moment." He pulled a pill bottle out of his pocket. "We were able to make medication for you. The dosage should be right if not a little too strong; it'll should help keep your fever down."

"Thanks Dr. Banner." Peter happily took the pills from him and had passed out in a matter of minutes.

"So what happened?" Bruce asked. "FRIDAY alerted me that Peter was distressed but didn't actually say why."

"Not sure; he said he was hallucinating or dreaming that a guy he once fought was here. He was slumped against the wall when I got here." Natasha answered as she put Peter's book down. "His temp was 104.3 so I can see why he thought as much."

"You were able to lower it a bit at least. There's nothing else we can really do except hope the meds work or his fever breaks. The meds are mainly to help him sleep so hopefully it won't happen again. Were you gonna stay with him a little while longer?"

Natasha shrugged. "I can. I have nothing better to do."

 **AVENGERS**

The rest of the day was uneventful. Peter awoke only once to use the restroom and didn't even seem to notice Natasha was still sitting in the chair going through another one of his books. The others had all dropped by at some point to see how he was doing and were relieved to see him sleeping. It was a little past midnight when Natasha exited and returned to her own room.

The next day was uneventful also. FRIDAY had reported that Peter had slept peacefully all night, which indicated that Bruce's medication was doing its job. His fever had remained between 103.6 and 103.1. While it wasn't good, it was lower than it had been and that was better than it rising.

Tony had also had success in creating four heaters out of scrap metal and gas lamps they had for some reason. It had the same mechanics as a toaster oven and only worked for two hours at a time before needing to cool down but everyone was grateful nonetheless. They had taken three and put them in the main common room and one of them went to Peter's room. No one had any objections to it.

It was the middle of the afternoon when Tony had gone to Peter's room; he had been woken up a few hours before to take more medication but other than that he'd been asleep. Sadly for Tony, he wasn't as stealthy as he thought when he had gone into the boy's and accidently kicked over the trash and woke the boy up.

"Uh, sorry about that kid. Didn't mean to wake you." Tony apologized as he set the can upright.

"It's okay Mr. Stark. I wasn't in a deep sleep." Peter replied as he rubbed his eyes. "What's that?"

"Like it? I finished four of them earlier in the afternoon. It's a bit crude but it'll get the job done; the other three are in the common room but this ones for you so you don't become a spidercicle while we're here."

"It's a heater? Here I thought you were bringing me a microwave for me to cook snacks in." Peter joked and laughed as Tony rolled his eyes. "Thanks."

"If we're gonna be stuck here for a few more days then at least _one_ of us gets to be comfortable. But it's good to see you have an appetite. Want me to bring you something? I think I can sneak away a few sandwiches from the kitchen."

"I think I can stomach a little bit."

Once Tony had the heater set up he ventured to the kitchen and brought back a few sandwiches. He sat with Peter for the rest of the day. They went through his homework, Tony explaining things that were wrong and helping him try to understand it all but ultimately gave up since Peter's head was fogged with a fever. He bounced ideas off Peter for new upgrades to their suits, told him what had been going on since he's been sleeping, how bad the storm was and how long it was expected to last. It seemed like it was currently peaking and would probably be horrible during the night, but it was expected to clear in a day or so.

Tony stayed long after Peter had taken his medicine and fallen asleep. For one because he wanted to make sure the heater didn't explode or anything, but he also wanted to monitor Peter himself. He was responsible for the kid and felt like it was his fault for not ensuring he would be perfectly fine. It was like an unspoken pact he had made with May when she found out about everything. Peter could go on missions as long as he was brought back safe a in one piece. He felt like a complete idiot that he didn't think to make some sort of enhanced suit to fight of the cold for him. It didn't even cross his mind that Peter could be more susceptible to cold because of his powers.

"FRIDAY what's his temperature at?" Tony asked quietly.

" _It has been at a constant 102.9."_ She responded.

"How's his leg doing?"

" _It's showing no signs of infection or any greater damage than when he first received the wound. Dr. Maggy said it would take two weeks to heal but even with him being sick, it's still healing at an incredible rate and should pose no problems in the future."_

That was good. The first time Peter had been shot and Tony had to inform May about it, she was livid and almost filed a restraining order against him but after Peter had talked to her about the whole thing, she ultimately dropped it. The few times after that was something Tony didn't like to think about.

 **AVENGERS**

When Peter next awoke, it was in an unfamiliar place. The lights in the room had been dimmed and he heard the humming of Tony's makeshift heater. It felt like he was laying on a bed but it didn't appear to be his own.

He sat up and peered around the room, expecting to see someone in there with him but ultimately, he was alone. It looked like an ordinary room; maybe they had to move him to utilize the heater for everyone, which he didn't mind in the least.

His legs went to the side of the bed and he planted his feet on the floor, the tiles sensing a chill up his back. He took one of the many blankets from the bed and wrapped it around his shoulders as he got up. At least he wasn't freezing anymore. He made his way to the door and out into he hall. The corridor looked like every other one he'd been in in the building, so it would most likely take a minute or two to actually find out where he was. Once he made it to a cross section he realized he was near the rec room.

Peter walked in silence, a soft _pat, pat, pat_ of his bare feet walking on the tile seemed to be echoing through the empty hall. He didn't know what to expect when he got there, maybe an agent to help him find where the others were or at least let him know what had been happening with the storm. What he didn't expect was to find was Clint and Steve playing a heated game of pool with several agents watching from the side.

"I literally can't understand how you plan to make that shot from your position."

"That's what you said two shots ago about yourself and you made them just fine. But this is the game shot; loser owes the winner a favor, anytime, anywhere."

"I knew I shouldn't have agreed to this."

Peter smiled slightly as the two men bickered. He didn't really understand or care for pool but joined the crowd to see who the winner would be.

Just as Steve was going to make his shot, Bruce's voice was heard through the comms. _"Have any of you seen Peter?"_

The two men looked at each other and frowned. "Shouldn't he be sleeping?"

" _If that were the case then I wouldn't be asking. He's not here."_

Clint rolled his eyes. "Trust the kid to make us all worry even more."

Peter couldn't help but laugh, then spoke out. "Sorry Mr. Barton. I don't mean it most of the time."

The two men turned to see him in the group huddled in a blanket.

"He's with us Bruce, in the rec room." Steve called. The two of them set their pool cues on the table, the game forgotten instantly as they went towards the youngest in the room. "What are you doing here?"

"Am I not allowed in here?" Peter questioned. "I can go back to the room if-"

"No Pete, you're fine here." Clint guided him to an empty couch and made him sit. "Do you feel okay? What are you doing up?

"I feel really good actually; still a little chilly but okay. I can finally think straight again. Uh, why do I feel like there's something you need to tell me?"

"Do you remember anything from the last few days?" Steve asked.

"Not really… I remember waking up a few times to eat and take medicine but other than that I think I've just been sleeping."

Clint placed the back of his hand on Peter's forehead. "You don't feel nearly as warm as you have been. Your fever probably broke last night."

"Is that why I was in a different room this morning, or whatever time it is?"

"It's part of it." Steve offered. "You were showing signs of improvement but your fever spiked sometime in the early morning yesterday and when Tony tried to wake you to take medication he couldn't."

"Peter." Three heads turned to see Tony, Bruce, and Natasha enter the room.

"Morning… if it is morning."

"It's actually 11:23pm." Natasha told him.

"How do you feel?" Bruce asked. "I didn't expect you to be up for a few more hours at least."

"I'm good I think. Still a little cold, I feel like I could eat a lot."

"You can actually stand and walk without falling over now?" Tony teased.

Peter smiled a bit. "I walked all the way here and barely even needed the wall for support. My leg doesn't even hurt at all."-

"I suppose you're wondering why you weren't in your room when you woke up, unless Grandpa and Legolas told you already."

"We were gonna before you three rudely interrupted." Clint said. "But yeah, your fever spiked and you didn't wake up."

"And- it wasn't _this_ morning… how long was I asleep for?" Peter asked.

"A little over 24hours." Bruce said. "Your fever spiked to 105.7 and that's enough to kill someone without your abilities in a few hours. Luckily you were able to fight it long enough for us to cool you down a bit."

"Had to soak you in a tub for a while." Natasha added. "Even brought in some snow from outside just in case it got out of control."

Bruce nodded. "We were able to lower your fever and moved you into the closest room to the infirmary we could without having to keep you in there and luckily your fever broke sometime during the night but you didn't show any signs of waking up."

"We thought you might have slipped into a coma because you didn't move at all." Tony added, the worry and relief evident in his tone. "But you always love proving us wrong whenever you can."

"Whoa, I'm- sorry I worried you all. I don't think I've ever been that sick before." Peter said as he stared at the table in front of him.

"You don't need to apologize for getting sick son." Steve said. "It's not your fault and it was probably an unavoidable matter."

"And it was a learning experience." Clint added. "Now we know not to let you outside in the snow without triple layers and booties."

Peter rolled his eyes but laughed. "What about the storm? Did it pass yet?"

"It's just about through. We're stuck here for at least another day just to make sure we can get out with no problems." Tony said. "So, what do you say kid? Midnight snacks as a small celebration?"

"Yeah, I'd like that."

 **Whoooooooooa so this was a thing. And look! I'm not dead!**

 **So I've had an idea like this in my head for a real long time and I finally started working on it and it took waaaaaay longer than I originally thought it would because it got like so in depth and became a much bigger thing than I planned but eh. You guys deserve a longer story because you're so awesome and supportive. And it's loosely based off the time I had the flu _real_ bad in high school and I literally couldn't move without help.  
**

 **Also work has been kicking my ass in the last month or so so I haven't really had that much time to sit down and write but I got a few days off so hopefully I can be a bit more active.**

 **Also also, I made a blog for my writing if anyone wants to follow. It's only got a few writing tips on it and not really active right now but I'll get to it I swear.**

 **Please point out any grammatical or spelling errors I might have missed so I can fix them in the future! Leave a review! I thrive off the acknowledgement and good wishes of others and if I don't get any then I'll die.**

 **Hope ya liked it! See ya later!**


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